Curtin Malaysia construction management students and academics attend webinars by industry experts

Miri – 27 May 2021 – The Faculty of Engineering and Science of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) recently hosted two webinars on construction management for students in its Bachelor of Applied Science in Construction Management and other related programmes.

The first webinar featured guest speaker Sr. Dr. Saipol Bari Bin Adbul Karim, an expert in risk and value management and Head of the Department of Quantity Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment at University of Malaya (UM), who is also the Planning and Programme Director of the Institute of Value Management Malaysia (IVMM). Sr. Dr. Saipol’s role in the national body established to advance value management (VM) in Malaysia, has seen him contributing to Malaysia’s National Value Management Manual and Value Management Competencies Standard.

The webinar titled ‘Risk and Value Management in Construction Projects’ was organised specifically to help the students in the study of their BLDG3012 Cost Management unit, as well as in their course assessments and future careers. Besides the 57 students, a number of academic staff also attended the webinar.

Dr. Wong Kwong Soon, head of the Faculty’s Department of Civil and Construction Engineering and organiser of the webinars, said the webinar gave the students valuable insights into construction management and ways to achieve better value for money for key construction stakeholders.

He said that not only the construction management students benefitted from Sr. Dr. Saipol’s talk, but also those from the Bachelor of Engineering in Civil and Construction Engineering and Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental Engineering programmes.

The second webinar saw guest speaker Ts. Saiful Azwan Sabli, an expert in construction management from Savills (KL) Sdn. Bhd., giving 28 students and academics in attendance valuable industry insights into work in project management.

He shared his vast experience as a project manager in the oil and gas and food and beverage industries, including successfully developing the first modular building in Malaysia for Petron USIM in Nilai, being the first to introduce Quality Assessment System in Construction (QLASSIC) into oil and gas works, and his involvement in construction management projects for companies like Shell, Petron, Coffee Bean and McDonald’s.

A civil engineering graduate of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Ts. Saiful started his career as a project engineer with Saingan Gemilang Sdn. Bhd. for six years, where he handled the housing development and infrastructure works for property development company TPPT Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary of Bank Negara. He later joined Octagon Maju Holdings Sdn. Bhd. as a project manager for three years, followed by a time in a similar role with Prima Rakan Sdn. Bhd. where he was involved in the McDonald’s project, before joining Savills (KL) Sdn. Bhd.

In thanking Ts. Saiful for his support of the Bachelor of Applied Science in Construction Management programme at Curtin Malaysia, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Professor Tuong-Thuy Vu, said support from professionals in industry is crucial to giving students valuable industry exposure.

Professor Thuy said this, coupled with the industry-focused and applied nature of Curtin’s courses, and work-integrated learning (WIL) that is built into their curriculums, ensure that students are career-ready when they graduate.

Curtin’s four-year Bachelor of Applied Science (Hons.) in Construction Management, which is offered at its Perth and Malaysia campuses, is a management-oriented programme that prepares students for a range of professional roles in the building and infrastructure construction industry.

Taught by a dedicated team of academics and professionals with qualifications and experience in construction-related disciplines, they study subjects relating to construction technology, quantity measurement and cost estimating, project planning and management, strategy and financial management, contract administration, building law, and cost planning and management. They also learn how to implement information technology (IT) in construction, including Building Information Modelling (BIM).

Curtin Malaysia students and academics attending the construction management webinars.